Currently, when subscribers or callers are traveling, they use calling cards or pre-paid telephone cards if they wish to place phone calls from a different location without their hosts being billed for the telephone call. Alternatively, subscribers call the operator and have the operator manually bill a certain call to the subscriber""s account.
An object of the present invention is to provide a billing feature which enables subscribers to get rid of calling cards and virtually use any phone as their own and get billed only at the subscriber""s account.
Accordingly to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for providing caller initiated third party billing in a telecommunication system is disclosed. First, a predetermined number is dialed by the subscriber to access the third party billing feature. The subscriber is then prompted to enter proper identification and the telecommunication system authenticates the subscriber identification. Once the subscriber""s identification has been authenticated, the system retrieves the subscriber""s account information. The system then determines the phone number of the selected telephone the subscriber wants to make calls from. The system then sends the subscriber""s account information and the phone number the subscriber wants to make the calls from to a billing server. The billing server then sends the subscriber""s account information to a local exchange carrier responsible for the selected telephone. The calls made from the selected telephone are then billed to the subscriber""s account.